If there's an enduring moment from Real Madrid’s 3-0 win against Chivas of Guadalajara at Qualcomm Stadium on Wednesday night, it's not Cristiano Ronaldo’s three goals in the space of 10 minutes.

It's Ronaldo yanking the ball out of the net after the first one and punting it 60 yards in the air.

In pure, utter frustration.

Real Madrid has spent the past 10 days staying at the swank Beverly Hills Hotel, training on the lush fields of UCLA, shopping on Rodeo Drive, going to celebrity-studded receptions, eating catered meals. It barely broke a sweat Saturday in a 4-1 destruction of the Los Angeles Galaxy at the L.A. Coliseum in the first of three U.S. games.

It couldn’t be bothered with braving L.A. traffic for the trip to San Diego, so it (yes) flew down on the charter jet it brought from Madrid a few hours before kickoff and flew back immediately afterward.

But any sense that this was a vacation disguised as a preseason training camp quickly evaporated at Qualcomm Stadium, where Chivas proved that they’re no MLS team. Or at least they did for 73 minutes.

That’s when Karim Benzema got loose down the right sideline and sent a low cross toward Ronaldo, who slipped between two defenders – deftly controlling the ball with his left foot, shooting with his right – to slot it past goalkeeper Luis Michel from point-blank range.

Three minutes later, Pepe was fouled in the box by Chivas’ Omar Arellano and Ronaldo converted the penalty.

Six minutes after that, Mesut Ozil sent in a cross and Ronaldo threaded a shot through a tangle of defenders to complete his 10-minute hat trick.

That Ronaldo, the 2008 FIFA world player of the year, was still in the game speaks to Chivas’ ability to foil the Spanish giants in the first half. Coach Jose Mourinho spent most of the night standing in front of the Real Madrid bench, hands on hips, head tilted to the side, trying to figure out how his multinational roster of multimillionaires was being shut out by a club that refuses to sign any foreigners – and not making the wholesale substitutions that most expected.

After playing only the second half against the Galaxy, Ronaldo went the full 90 minutes here. So did Marcelo. Benzema went 78. Ozil went 83.

Maybe that was the plan. Or maybe it was out of necessity.

This being its final preseason game before Mexico’s Primera Division opens Saturday, Chivas started close to its best 11 (including San Ysidro High alum Manuel Angel Ponce at left back) and made only one sub – for injury – before the 68th minute.

“To play against one of the three best teams in the world,” Chivas coach Jose Luis Real said, “that motivated us, that excited us. Chivas was going to be Chivas. We weren’t going to try anything strange, like sit back and defend.

“The first opportunities of the game were ours, and unfortunately we couldn’t covert them.”